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Attacking Adversity

Bookish Weapon Number Eighteen

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We are all going to die or as John Ortberg puts it, “Old Man Wrinkle is coming for everybody.” Ortberg has a unique way of reminding us of that fact and adding a twist or two in his book, “When The Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box.” That is one of the best titles for a book I have seen and contains a bookish weapon we can all use daily.

The title is a reminder that while we play this game, winning and losing at times, when it is all over all the pieces and the board go back in the box. It could be that the “box” is a coffin.”

Reality

“The reality of this world is that I was born into Someone Else’s kingdom. My life came to me as a gift I did not choose; it is suspended from a slender thread that I did not weave and cannot on my own sustain.”

Here is a meditation Ortberg quotes:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Then he says Jesus added one more to this: “I am a ceaseless being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.”

He also adds this much needed quote from Bernie Siegle:

“I’ve done the research and I hate to tell you, but everybody dies – lovers, joggers, vegetarians and non-smokers. I’m telling you this so that some of you who jog at 5:00 AM and eat vegetables will occasionally sleep late and have an ice cream cone.”

Meaning

A vacuum cleaner is built to clean. A knife to cut. Ortberg says, “We are built for meaning the way Porsches are built for speed.” He goes on to discuss how all of us have what Martin Seligman calls “signature strengths.” And of course goes on to encourage us to use our signature strengths in the service of something larger than ourselves.

You are most likely familiar with the book “Mans Search for Meaning” where Victor Frankl points out that we can put up with anything if we have a big enough why. We can find meaning in even the worst circumstances.

Bookish Weapon Number Seventeen

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Gary Keller’s book, “The One Thing,” reminds me a lot of Stephen Covey’s book, “First Things First,” but it has its own twist and adds a lot. The idea is keeping your focus on one thing. That gets extraordinary results.

I liked the domino analogy. If you have a line of dominos, then keep hitting the first domino until it falls. The rest is easy.

What Holds Us Back

There are too many distractions and things other than the “me thing” that keep us from focusing. Also there are “untruths” that we base our decisions on. As you have heard, if you hear a lie long enough and frequently enough you believe it.

Keller says there are six lies between you and success. 1) Everything matters equally, 2) Multitasking, 3) A disciplined life, 4) Willpower Is Always on Will-Call, 5) A balanced life, and 6) Big is bad. Then he takes each one apart.

Discipline

This one reached out and slapped me in the face. I pride myself the I am disciplined in some areas of my life, but Keller says, “Success is actually a short race – a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and tale over.” Yes, habit! The gym is a habit. Hiking is a habit.

He goes on to say, “In fact, you can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.” He says that “When you do the right thing, it can liberate you from having to monitor everything.”

So strong, powerful habits are more important than discipline, but you still need the discipline to get the ball rolling.

A Balanced Life

Let’s take one more of these six lies. Isn’t it good to stay balanced? Don’t be a workaholic! Don’t be an “exercise nut.” Don’t just “go hiking” ALL THE TIME. Keller says the balanced life is a lie.

He says instead of seeking balance, we should be seeking, “purpose, meaning, significance – these are what make a successful life. Seek them and you will most certainly live your life out of balance, crisscrossing an invisible middle line as you purpose your priorities.” Yes!

Consider this. If you are messing around with everything it all gets less attention or as he says, “shortchanged,” and “magic happens at the extremes.” It is the extra long climb that makes a difference.

I like what he says about time in this regard. “When you gamble with time, you may be placing a bet you can’t cover….toying with time will lead you down a rabbit hole with no way out. Believing this lie does its harm by convincing you to do things you shouldn’t and stop doing things you should.” Then, “To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance in relation to all other work issues, with only infrequent counterbalancing to address them.” Good advice!

Bookish Weapon Number Sixteen

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When I wrote about having sore legs in one of my hiking posts, I mentioned Kelly Starrett. Well, he wrote a book called “The Supple Leopard,” and Jill Miler wrote a book called “The Roll Model.” If you read and apply what is in these two books you will be Superman or Superwoman. These two also got together to create a CD which I highly recommend called, “Treat While You Train.”

These are all weapons in and of themselves. So I suppose each of these books deserve their own post, but I am going to concentrate today on Starrett’s book. It is a huge book, but I will pick a couple things for your consideration. Keep in mind that this book is filled with pictures so you really need to get it and go through it.

Stability

If the first part of the book Starrett explains his system. Then in chapter two he gets into Midline Stabilization and Organization. He gives you sequences to practice, breathing mechanics, and much more. In chapter three he focuses on the “One Joint Rule,” where “if you see flexion or extension anywhere in the spine, it is an error.” You want to have a braced neutral spine and he shows you how to get that.

In chapter four he covers the Laws of Torque. Want a stable hip position, then “screw your feet into the ground, spin your feet as if they are on dinner plates, spread the floor and shove your knees out.” Hence, law number one – “To create stability when your legs or arms are in flexion, you need to generate external rotation force.” Then law #2: “To create stability when your legs or arms are in extension you need to generate an internal rotation force.”

There are torque tests for hips, shoulders, etc

Movement

In chapter five he covers movement hierarchy and then a whole list of movements including the right way to do a back squat, pushup, deadlift, etc. He breaks them down into category one, two and three movements.

This book is almost 400 pages of color photos and text that help you move better in and out of the gym.

Good luck with all this. It will help you prevent injuries.

Bookish Weapon Number Fifteen

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The book that started it all for me or at least what kept me in the sales profession was “See You At The Top,” by Zig Ziglar. I had forgotten that it was a 400 page book. I remembered it to be a lot smaller for some reason. So I am going to pull a few gems out of this one for you, but before I do consider that Norman Vincent Peale endorsed this book.

I noticed that on the inside cover of my copy I wrote the dates I completed reading it. I read it eight times, the last time being in 1980. Now, I wish I had kept reading it every year. As Zig says in his introduction, “…read it from cover to cover as a way of life. Then you start over.”

The Big Weapon – Six Steps

Zig says there are six steps to everything you want – self-image, your relationship with others, goals, attitude, work and desire. That’s it! He says we all have some of everything we need to be successful.

He says, “winning isn’t everything, but the effort to win is,” and “man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”

One of his most quoted sayings is, “You can get everything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Your Mind

“Whatever you plant in the mind is going to come up – multiplied.” The reason for this is that between planting and harvesting the imagination gets involved and multiplies whatever you planted. Think about that! Have you ever had your imagination go wild on you after even something relatively minor? I know I have allowed it.

His key idea here is if you plant negatives in your mind you will reap negatives. He says “whatever we put into our minds is going to come out of them.”

The Scariest Disease

Ziglar calls it the “worlds most deadly disease.” It is “hardening of the attitude,” and it is caused by “stinkin’ thinkin’.” I always have loved this.

Have you ever suffered from this not so rare disease? If course we all have and it is deadly, so be careful and recognize it for what it is before it becomes terminal.

So what you should probably get is a “checkup from the neck up” so you don’t get this disease.

Desire

Zig calls it the equalizer. He says “Desire is the ingredient that changes the water of mediocrity to the steam of outstanding success.” “Desire is the extra.” “Our yearning power is more important than our earning power.”So crank up your desire if you want to get somewhere.

Also don’t get bent our of shape regarding “happiness.” I have always just wanted to be useful, but Zig says “happiness is not pleasure. It is victory.”

Bookish Weapon Number Fourteen

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Today’s Bookish Weapon is from Ray Dalio’s book, Principles. It is arguably one of the best business books in print. Dalio’s biography is stunning. A billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He knows how to make anything more successful. I am going to look at his take on making decisions, but I highly recommend you read the whole book.

Decisions – Broadly Speaking

So you need to make a decision about something. Something important. How do you ego about it from Dalio’s perspective. He says, “Know that coming up with the right questions and asking other smart people what they think is as important as having all the answers.”

So ask some smart people what they think. Get someone else’s perspective. This is always good advice.

Process

There is a two step process second for making decisions says Ray. First take in all the information especially apposing views. Second, decide!

He says that, “You are looking for the best answer not simply the best answer you can come up with yourself.” Find people that have been successful over time and ask them.

Always plan for worse case scenarios as much as possible. The old 2 is one and 1 is none.

Upper Level and Lower Level

You need to understand what level your conversation is on. If it is about a sub-point then that is a lower level conversation. If it is a main point, that is upper level, and he says, “decisions need to be made at the appropriate level, but they should also be across levels.”

He slices it for sure. He is very detailed in his decision making. He says that most people focus on the lower level points and make decisions based on them and those decisions are inferior.

Bets and Probability

“Make your decisions as expected value calculations. Think of every decision as a bet. Reward times probability of occurring is greater than penalty times probability of occurring.” The book gets into more detail so read it.

He also points out that it is “Not always best to bet on what’s more probable. The best choices are ones that have more pros than cons, not the ones that have no cons.”

Consequences

Have you considered all the consequences of your decision? Dalio says you must consider second and third level consequences. So look at how this decision will impact you in three years. Who will it impact and what will be the consequences for them in three, five, the years. Go deep! Most people only look at first level consequences, so don’t be like most people.

Bookish Weapon Number Thirteen

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Today’s “Bookish Weapon” is not from a book so this is a rule breaker I suppose. It is from one of the authors discussed elsewhere, Jocko Willink. It is a quote from his podcast about suicide. I think it needs to be reproduced everywhere. I suppose it does not have the impact of hearing his booming voice, but the words are wisdom and may just save someone. Here it is in its entirety:

Powerful Antidote

“If you feel like life is in a place where you can’t get any lower and don’t think you can find any way out – Good! That means the ultimate challenge is ahead of you. You can only go up and it also means things are going to be tough. The storm you’re in from your perspective  seems like the storm is enveloping the whole world, but it is not. The storm you’re in – it is hard to see past it. The storm is everything, but it is not, and won’t last forever. You can get out of the storm and it will end and you will see sun again. Right now you are being tried. Forged and tested by fire and pain. Don’t fail the test! Don’t give in or quit! Fight through the pain and come out the other side stronger and tougher and better. A fighter! A survivor! A Winner! Victorious! Free from that storm. Free from the darkness!”

Use It

This was one of the best verbal “antidotes” I had ever heard for someone thinking about taking their life. Suicide is, as I write this, an epidemic among the military and young people. However, it touches all walks of life and ages. If you have lived very long you either know someone or know someone who knows someone that killed themselves. So share this with others. It is one more tool in your belt when fighting this kind of darkness. Use it!